Before I start I was to tell everyone reading that the majority of what I write here is opinion.
I think its pretty reasonable to say that America is now in a downward spiral towards self destruction. Look at crime in America
its reached a ridiculous level. I heard a statistic that 25% of all the worlds prison population is American prisoners. Thats just one country of hundreds and we still make up one fourth of all the prisoners. Why is this? Are Americans just evil people? Of course not. No one is born inherently evil. So what makes so many of these innocent children grow up to be the people we fear.
Lets look back at who founded our country. Puritains. Now some would say that these people had some of the most strict moral codes and laws of many of the western civilizations. Especially when it came to sexuality and other things considered "evil" by the church. Others would also agrue that these were some of the most two faced and corrupted people. "The Scarlet Letter" a great book by Nathaniel Hawthorne can give us a glimpse into the backwards thinking and corruptness of the early settlers. But why would people who lived and expected others to live by these moral codes be so evil themselves? No one can really be sure I suppose but it was there philosophy and way of thinking that has helped build one of the most corrupt and crime ridden countries in the modern western world.
How can you expect a person to be consciously good when the line between right and wrong are constantly being skewed. Take television for example. Those of you who have kids will know what I'm talking about when I say that todays cartoons even are becoming more and more vulgar. Just this morning I was watching the movie Ice Age with my three year old son and one of the characters one the movie was almost struck by falling ice and he gave a long drawn out "daaaaaammmmnnnn". Now I'm 21 years old and I still consider myself pretty with the times and cool. But why is a PG movie intended for children using curse words. I dont want my three year old saying that stuff. This is only one small example. There are many other cartoon movies and TV programs that are becoming increasingly vulgar. And what does this do to our children? They see there favorite TV characters cursing so in their minds they see nothing wrong with it but when mommy and daddy correct the child it sends a mixed message to the child. So who should the child follow? The TV or the parent. Well of course my three year old son is going to listen because he hates the taste of soup. So what happens when a child gets older? Puberty hits and kids are watching MTV, what do they see? Half naked women dancing around on TV people flashing money and talking about how they dealt drugs to get it. Now by the time a child is beginning puberty you have a lot less control over what your child does due to them being away from you for longer periods of time as opposed to having your toddler with you almost all the time. So your kids go to school and they talk about what they saw Britney Spears wearing on TV. Next thing you know your kids are imitating what they see on tv to be cool. They're walking around with the skimpy clothing and trying to become little drug dealers and pimps or whatever else and the parents cant do anything. Sure you can say beat your kids ass or ground them until they do right. But how many of you can say when you were grounded as an adolescent it discouraged you from doing it? Not many. And we all know beating your kids its not a viable option unless you have no expectations for your kids becoming mentally health adults. So now you have all these kids who think dealing drugs and other numerous crimes because everything they see on TV is about either drugs money or sex in some way shape or form. On top of our kids being hoodlums and whores now they're having they're own children. How is someone who cant take care of themselves or make sound decisions while weighing out the consequences of their decision going to properly care for and mentor their own child. They just can't so now we have this new generation of children who believe its normal to have kids at 15 or commit serious crimes without fully understanding the consequences. Theres nothing too serious in the world that cant be handled and fixed within 30 minute period and then after that on to the next issue for another 30 minute period and so on and so forth. No wonder our kids cant focus in school. They're used to new things and experiences at the press of a button, be it Television or internet. The teachers simply cant keep up. You cant make math that interested or any subject for that matter. So what are we to do? Is America doomed to be over run by these ill raised children who know nothing but sex and crime? I think it will take strong education, prison, and mass communication reform to change things. The only problem is who is going to make these changes? Would it even be possible to make these changes within the 8 year period a person is given to preside of this country? Could it even be done period? Some of you may think my view is cynical or nihilistic but really, what hope do we have to fix all the fucked up shit in our country let alone the world? I dont know, thats my 2 cents.
